Starling Bank Adds Virtual Cards for Personal Current Account Customers

Starling Bank has added virtual cards to the in-app features it offers personal current account customers.

These virtual cards work like debit cards but use money from a dedicated “Space” in the app, rather than from the main account balance, so that users can better track their spending, Starling Bank said in a Wednesday (Dec. 7) press release.

“Our customers asked for personal cards and we’ve delivered,” Starling Bank Chief Banking Officer Helen Bierton said in the release. “Virtual cards allow people to completely compartmentalize their personal finances for better control of their spending, making it easier to stick to budgets.”

Customers can have as many as five virtual cards at a time and can assign each one to a Space that might be dedicated to travel or groceries, for example, according to the press release.

They can top off the funds in each Space at any time through a one-time transfer as well as setting up weekly or monthly transfers. When the funds in a Space are used up, the virtual card will decline purchases; it will not take funds from the main balance, the release said.

Starling Bank launched virtual cards for personal current account customers Wednesday and plans to offer them to business current account customers in 2023, per the release.

The bank has also updated the Spending Insights feature in its app to deliver greater transparency. Customers can now view their spending in each Space, in custom date ranges and in interactive graphs, according to the press release.

“We’re constantly thinking of how we can help our customers manage their money better,” Bierton said in the release.

PYMNTS research has found that younger consumers are coming to rely on digital banking tools to educate themselves about financial matters.

At the same time, they have high expectations of technology and tend to have a low tolerance for digital banking friction, according to the “Digital-First Banking Tracker,” a PYMNTS and NCR collaboration.

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